Improvement in cultivators



CULTIVATORS.

Patented Aug-211876.

UNITED STATES PATENT .Curran DANIEL C. STOVER, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CULTl-l/ATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters' Patent No. 181,494, dated August22, 1876.; application filed March 4. 1876.

. To all whom it may concern:

' Freeport, Stephenson county, State of Illinois,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cultivators, of which thefollowing is a full description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 aredetails.

My improvements are designed to be used with walking-cultivators.

The chief objects of my invention are to provide an improved device forhanging up the shovels'when not in use, and also for regulating thedepth of the plowing; and these I accomplish by means of a rigid barruiming at an angle from the axle or frame, and connected with the beamwhich carries the shovels, and by means'of suitable devices inconnection with said parts, as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, A represents the upright portion of a bent axle; B, oneof the wheels; C, the tongue; D, one of the plow-beams; E, a rigid bar,extending at an angle from the axle or frame of the cultivator to apoint near the rear of the plow-beam, as shown. a is a metal platefastened to theA axle. It is provided with a hole, in which the forwardend of the bar E is inserted, and can be freely moved forward and back.The forward end of E is provided with a hook, b, or other device, tocatch on the plate a and prevent this bar E from being drawn away fromthe plate a, and the under side of the upper end of E is faced withmetal to prevent wear. d is a slot through E, and through the-facing c.f is a hook, having an extension, g, in front, and curved on the underside, as shown at h. It is pivoted or hinged in ears i on the under sideof E. k is a hat spring. Its lower end is fastened to E. The other endis free, and is over the hook. L is a metal plate, in which is a slot,m. n is an ear upon the plate l, to which the rear end of the bar E issomewhat loosely fastened. The plate l is held firmly against the sideof the beam by means of the bolts and block which hold theshovel-stand,- ard F in place.

By loosening the bolt p, which passes through the standard F, andthrough the slot m in the plate l, this plate can be moved forward orback, thus elevating or depressing the end of the plow-beam, thusregulating the depth to which the shovels enter the ground.

'lhe hook f, before described, is so arranged that it moves up and downin the slot d.

G is a handle secured to the beam D, which beam is connected to asuitable support at its forward end in any well-known manner.

- I have represented only one-half of the cultivator; but it is to beused as a straddle-row cultivator, and the parts required to make acomplete machine are to be duplicates of those shown.

In use the rear ends of the plow-beams are supported by means of therigid bar E, and the depth of the plowing can be regulated as beforedescribed.

Whendesired, the shovels can be suspended or hung up, so as to be freefrom the ground, simply by lifting up the rear end of the plowbeam,which will cause the forwardv end of the bar E to move forward through auntil the hook f passes through a, and can catch upon the lower side ofthe opening therein.

The hook f can be released by lifting the rear end of the beam D,causing the curved portion h of ho'ok f to slide up on the lower edge ofthe opening in a, thus lifting the hook proper up into the slot in E, inwhich position the point or extension g will project above the bar E,and the hook will be held there by the contact of a flattened spot onthe upper edge thereof with the spring 7c, and the hook can be withdrawnfrom the part a. While being withdrawn the projection g will come incontact with the Vpart a, at the top, releasing the hook from thespring, and allowing it to drop down into the position. shown in Fig. 1.

I do not confine myself to this exact method of holding the hook up inthe slot in E. l

Among Athe advantages from this construction are the following: Theshovels can be more easily moved laterally than when the Vends of thebeams are unsupported, and such movement does not in use materiallychange the depth to which the shovels enter the ground. The depth of theplowing can be easily regulated. The weight upon the necks of the horsescaused by the draft is partly removed by the oounterbalanoing weight ofthe* beams through the bar E. p

The rear end ofthe bar E may be connected plow-beam at a pointconsiderably forward of that shown 5' but I would still use the slottedplate to regulate the depthof the t.

plowing.

What I claim as new, and `desire to secure by Letters Patent, is asfollows:

l. The axle or frame and beam D, in oomg bination with the rigid bar E,pivoted at oner end, and arranged to slide back` and forth i yupon ytheaxle at the`I` other; `for holding the*y beanr np vrheA not in use;`alnd regulating the; depth of the plows when at Work, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the axle or frame, bar E, beam,` D, andslottedplate l, substanti'alljfas and for the pnposes specified.

DANIEL C. STOVER.

Witnesses:

M. STosKoPF, GEO. M. ELLIOTT.

